Sunday, April 18, 2010

Advanced Training - Air Force Base in Lincoln, Nebraska

(Continuation of Captain Estes's Memoirs)

"Then they sent me to Lincoln, Nebraska. And therewas a group of Air Force personnel there: there weregunners and flight engineers, there was everything.I don't know how they chose them or how they chosewho was going to be on whose crew, but I woundup with a crew there. And of course, it was thefirst time I'd ever met my navigator, that wasBob Swain; and the first time I was everintroduced to my copilot, that was JohnCongleton. And John had finished in singleengine, but they didn't need any single enginepilots, they needed copilots for these big B-24s, and he was assigned to me as my copilot.

He was the finest boy I ever knew. He'dbeen misplaced of course, he should havebeen in single engine but they put him in --in my copilot's crew, and we became greatbuddies.

There at Lincoln his mother and his fianceehad come up to see him before he went anyfurther away, and so I met his fiancee, Marian,and I'm in touch with Marian now, oh, monthly.We write and we talk and we keep in touch. Of course, John in the interim, had a heartproblem and died, and I think he was probablythe first member of my crew that died, butthat was after we had gotten home."(To be continued.)